logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

Entry tags:

EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

characters: all characters that signed up as a dreamer for the event.
location: dreamland feat. beacon of the past.
date/time: november 16-29.
content: the dreamers investigate beacon as it once was.
warnings: psychological/existential horror. further cws will arise depending on the location; mods will cw tags appropriately, and you will too!

say your prayers, little one.

Hello, dreamers. Welcome to Beacon.

Below, each group has a toplevel ready and waiting for the investigation to begin. Feel free to tag in however to establish a tag order, and mod responses will begin once each character has tagged in. If you need a refresher on how the event will work, give the OOC info another read!

As for those of you in the ~~sin bin~~ opt out area...

The Beacon of the past isn't all too different from the Beacon of the present, frankly, except for a few notable exceptions. For one, it's far better lit: daylight leaves everything feels a lot brighter and more sensible than eternal night does. Several advertisements for community theater in the Invincible are hung up (Tryouts for the Ice Man Cometh! Cometh try your luck!) and minor lost and found posters are tacked to a community bulletin board nearby. Oh, and a merry little tune is playing on loop from a record player set up outside the Invincible.

It's cheerful, if not a little off-putting. But the signs of life are clear, even if the forest still looks darkly oppressive over yonder.

Additionally, since investigation threads 1) rely on mod responses, and 2) will likely move on the slow side given the nature of the event/size of the groups, if you would like to have your characters "mingle" in their assigned location, please feel free to write your own toplevels! We ask that you post them as separate toplevels not in response to the mod toplevels (so our inboxes don't get super flooded/we don't accidentally miss stuff). Remember that groups may only interact with each other during the event, but you're welcome to assume timey-wimey shenanigans to excuse why your characters are mingling instead of searching for clues—they do have two weeks in this dream, technically, and dreams are not always linear. If your investigation thread has not yet progressed to a point in which you've got enough of a handle on the setting to write a separate mingle starter, ask the mod you're working with! We'll fill you in on some OOC details so you can mingle accordingly while still allowing for characters to discover those details ICly in the investigation thread.

If you're still jonesing for more threading action during the event, we encourage you to check out the TDM!

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[The noise doesn't pause for a moment, no matter that Aizraphale's voice echoes down the mine shaft.

As the trio walks, it's Molly who will stumble first: his feet catch on something, and if the other two aren't careful, they'll trip too. It turns out to be a few mining helmets. If they pick them up, they'll notice that they're fairly fresh: no dust or cracks, but they're abandoned nonetheless. And on one of them . . . hm. There seems to be a sticky mixture of something dark and a few hairs . . .]

[Molly pitches forward suddenly, yelping loud enough to echo which is the exact opposite of what he wanted. He catches himself before he falls face first onto the ground and braces himself just in case the other two smack into them.]

Found something. [Said dryly. He stoops to pick one up and passes it over to Aziraphale and a second to Goro, keeping one for himself. No reason- mostly just so they can each scrutinize them.

Molly sticks his hand inside his and his fingers come up sticky with a few stray hairs stuck to them. He bites his tongue and shakes his hand to try and rid himself of them.] Well, someone's been down here. I think they might have come to a bad end. [the sticky, dark mixture and the hairs are still clinging to his finger and he shows it off, in lieu of being able to get rid of it easily.] Is that blood? Tell me that isn't blood.

[ Aziraphale reaches out to grab Molly before he falls, but ends up clutching his own chest when Molly doesn't fall forward.

He takes a deep breath and then passes a helmet back before inspecting his own. ]

If it's blood, it must be fresh to be wet.

[ He gently lifts the helmet to his nose to take a sniff. ]

[Thankfully Goro was behind them both. From what little light there was from their lanterns, he was able to avoid running into them. Taking the helmet to look it over.]

These don't seem to be damaged in any way though. If it is blood, I hope you guys are capable of fighting if need be. Things might be dangerous here on out.

[And it's times like these that he's glad that his Personas are still (mostly) functioning well here.]

[It sure is blood, and it's wet enough to be somewhat recent. Kind of gross, really, but so it goes. Behind them: the noise increases just a bit, the beat between each footfall cut in half. Thump, thump, thump, still behind them, getting louder.]

[Molly wipes his fingers on his knee-high boots and gingerly lays the helmet down with disgust. He doesn't want to think too hard about how something can cause a head injury of that sort of significance without crushing the helmet.] Am I the only one who brought a weapon?

[He flips his coat to reveal his two scimitars, removing both, so he has them in his grip, but not activating them yet. He doesn't want to chance the fact that he might have to put them down, and he needs all the blood he can spare.

The thumping is getting louder. A strange primal panic seizes him.] Let's just move quickly? Please? I don't think stealthy's an option anyway.

Agreed, let's go faster.

[ Aziraphale tries not to think about the blood, although-- ]

--And, yes, I didn't bring any weapons to bed, so all I have is this helmet.

[ Which. Come to think of it, did he go to bed? He doesn't remember going to bed.

That's something to unpack at another time. ]

Goro, you don't also happen to just have two swords on you, yes?

[The sound is getting faster and closer.... It's time to go.]

... No, I don't. At most I'll only have one. You're free to use it though. I can use my Persona otherwise.

Let's just be careful. Faster is good, but don't forget there could be other things lurking around. I don't think it would be a good idea to speed into something more dangerous while we're at it.

[But he does agree they need to pick up the pace.]

[So they pick up the pace, which is probably a good idea. Unfortunately: whatever's behind them seems to think it's a good idea too. That repetitive noise quickens once again, thumpthumpthump, a too-rapid pace that can't be human, no humanoid creature could move so fast, it--

--seems to be upon them--

--but there's nothing, nothing at all, except for an unearthly chill slipping through Akechi, leaving him numb; there's nothing but the sound of laughter and two hands, six fingers, wrapping around a bit of Aziraphale, gripping tightly, tearing--

--til one wing is forcibly ripped from him. Blood sprays, as the hands grip their stolen prize, twisting and bending til there's two horrible snapping sounds. They drop it, the stolen limb dropped like a broken toy, as they go for the other wing.]

[Molly debates asking what a Persona is, but decides he'll either find out in a bad situation or he can ask in a better one. Aziraphale makes a valid point- did they fall asleep? He remembers there was food...

... And then he sucks in a breath between sharp teeth and whirls to face something he anticipates being behind them, and sees... Nothing.

Nothing but blood and a paler-than-average Aziraphale and a bloodied, broken wing on the ground.] ...Where were you keeping that [Molly barks his surprise and then notices the hands trying to go in and again and rather than bleed for a bonus, he just tries to jump into the fray and cut the hands off at the pass... Literally or figuratively. He's just swinging at them.] Come on out, you handsy fuck.

[ He hears the laughter and tries to turn around but isn't fast enough as something catches his wing and-- oh, dear, how had it done that? In a split second, its spectral fingers tear into his celestial personal space and he barely has time to register that a flurry of blood-stained white feathers fall onto the ground.

He manages a thought that those can't be his feathers, that can't be his wing, before the question comes and he realizes he's answering Molly in the form of a very loud and very non-stealthy scream.

He tries to get away at the same time as he commands it with any forcible angelic magic he can currently muster: ]

STOP!

[The thumping was getting louder and he felt that cold numbing chill. It immediately put him on edge, instantaneously summoning Robin Hood. With what was happening, they probably wouldn't take much notice his appearance change, but that wasn't important now. Blood splattered on him from the broken wing, he wiped his face and mask off with his sleeve to see better.

Looks like Molly will see what he's talking about when they aren't trying to help Aziraphale. They're all going to have questions later when they don't have a spirit to deal with. For now, Goro isn't sure what to do about this foe yet, so he'll just try to assist in keeping the hands from ripping the other wing somehow.]

Oh, those hands aren't interested in Aziraphale. Not anymore.

They seem ghostly: no matter how accurately Molly swats and swings at them, they don't seem to be able to be touched. But maybe his fussing works, because they spring away from Aziraphale, fading from view.

. . . and reappearing on Robin Hood, caressing up his chest, to the curve of his jaw . . . and digging in, trying their best to find a hinge. Can they rip off Robin Hood's lower jaw? Will that rip Akechi's jaw right off? Who knows! The key to exploration is boldness, after all, and they are going to do their fucking best to discover if Robin Hood can come apart.

If Molly knew that he was a Ghostslayer Blood Hunter, he would demand a refund, because excuse you, that is unfair.

What's also unfair is the fact that despite being the one that attacked first, the hands are groping for... He turns to look at Akechi and balks a bit, unable to really comprehend what he's seeing there. He'll think about it later. For now, he's seeing red and that's not just because his eyes are always red.

"Oi! Are you ignoring me?" Molly's not suicidal, but he died once for his friends and he can't exactly just stand back and not jump into the front of the line. Even in death, his time ought to be borrowed somehow. It's just the way it is. You protect your own.

Aziraphale is also not going to ask what that is, but it seems to have armor and a cape, and also a very impractical helmet where he's honestly not sure how it's fitting into this tunnel, but he's not about to ask questions. He just assumes it's going to be friendly because it appears to be an enemy of whatever just ripped out his wing.

Taking a stuttered, still-shocked moment, he closes up the gaping wound that was once his wing, being unable to heal it properly but at least he's not losing any more blood. "Don't do that either!" he tries, panicked. Since there is enough noise down here that it really wouldn't matter if they were trying to hide anymore, he snaps his fingers from above, as he commands: "Let there be light!"

[ OoC: I'm not sure if that works in the dream... ]

. . . and reappearing on Robin Hood, caressing up his chest, to the curve of his jaw . . . and digging in, trying their best to find a hinge. Can they rip off Robin Hood's lower jaw? Will that rip Akechi's jaw right off? Who knows! The key to exploration is boldness, after all, and they are going to do their fucking best to discover if Robin Hood can come apart.

[This fucker... At least it's trying to go after Robin Hood and not him directly right away, but it still pisses him off that this spirit is toying with them.]

Kouga!

[If light works in a dream, there will be a bright flash of light for a moment. If not, the light will be almost instantly snuffed out, but all that matters is that his bless attack hits whatever these hands are. Since Robin Hood can't be injured exactly, he's not worried about sustaining damage. If nothing else, it's better than nothing if he can damage their unseen enemy. In a fit of rage, he chucked the miner's helmet that was in his hand yet at the spirit as well (not expecting it to do much).

Between curse and bless skills, he's assuming bless is going to have more of an impact, but it was hard to say what weaknesses were right away.]

Alas, neither of the lights seem to work. There's flares, perhaps, but it does nothing to illuminate the mineshaft.

Those fingers dig in deeper, but it's only a matter of seconds before bless hits them hard. There's a singing sound, and the shaft fills with the scent of burned flesh; within an instant, they disappear.

For the moment.

Better make sure Aziraphale doesn't bleed out, huh, boys?

"Bloody hell. What was that, then?" It's unclear whether or not Molly means the attack that hit the wandering hands or what they were period or maybe he means Robin Hood, but every single implication was directed at Akechi, and he doesn't even give him time to answer, before he's moving. He gives another confused glance at Robin Hood before sheathing his swords and going to Aziraphale. "Easy, easy. What exactly did it do to you?"

Aziraphale would remark on Robin Hood, but he does recognize that it came to rescue him, and honestly everyone around them seems to have ridiculous powers so it's not as if this is the most surprising thing that could've happened, and anyway--

--"Just... ripped out a wing, that's all," he says, looking slightly pale. There's still blood all over his clothes, and he appears a bit weak, but he's working on it. The wound, obviously, is just a little tender. "We'll-- we'll have to leave it and move on, I think. No matter, I. I hadn't been using it, really."

He's trying very hard not to be upset.

It worked... for the time being it looks like. Even if the spirit seemed to leave them be after that right now, Goro wasn't all that convinced that it was gone for good. They could worry about that later after figuring out what happened and if they can do anything about this now present threat.

Glancing over to Molly, it was obvious that all of his questions had to do with his Persona or outfit, but he's not too surprised. Robin Hood wasn't as bright as normal (as he found out when testing him), but they were close enough to see the glow of him. Glancing over to Aziraphale now...

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I didn't want to possibly hurt you with my attack while it was still on you," he asked him. "Long story short, this is Robin Hood, my Persona. It's basically a power from deep inside that helps me achieve my goals. There's a lot to it though, so the full story will have to come another time." Handing his Lumina Saber over to Aziraphale. It normally light up, but considering it was a light sword, at most it just glowed if you were close enough to even see it. "If you want, I don't need to use it," he offered it to him. He might be more comfortable with something at least.

Whenever they glance over: the wing is gone, leaving only a sticky trace of blood on the floor.

As they move forward, for a time, there's nothing. No noises, no lights . . . nothing but the length of the tunnel. Whether they move slowly or quickly, it won't matter: there doesn't seem to be any end to them. And are the walls getting closer? It's hard to tell, but after a while, they'll begin to notice the tunnel is getting narrower and narrower.

It continues that way until their arms are uncomfortably pressed against their sides, until the air seems a little too thin, until there's just a railway line despite the fact no cart could come through here--

And then they face a choice. The tunnel splits: left or right?

"Nonsense. Maybe if we just hold it up, you can sort of... reattach it-" And that's when he notices the wing is gone, and all his hopes of figuring out if clerics can reattach limbs go with it. "Never mind."

And he still doesn't really understand what a Persona is, but he shakes it off and moves forward. He planned to light up his swords, but the tunnel gets narrower and he finds himself getting more and more anxious about it. Hah. This is fine. It's not like being buried alive at all. Is his breathing getting a bit tense? Maybe it's just because the air quality here is shit.

And, of course, the path forks. Of course it does. Molly looks between the two identical paths, knowing that he's in front and will have to be confident in his decision. He doesn't feel confident. He feels like he's on the verge of a panic attack, but if he stands still then everyone's going to bloody know it.

He goes right. "I feel like right is always the way to go." Thank god, he can at least pretend to sound confident.

Aziraphale gladly takes the saber in his free hand, nodding towards Goro and giving him thanks as he tries to move it towards his wound to inspect, but unfortunately there's so much blood and it's so dark that he can't make anything out.

"Well, if it isn't right we'll just come back and go the other way," Aziraphale says. "Nothing else we can do, I suppose."

And then, a beat.

"You don't think we should have gone the other way? The way that-- that thing came from?"

Right is right, or at least so it seems! The instant all three of them slip to the right, the tunnel suddenly grows wider. But it also stops about three feet ahead, despite the fact a moment ago it seemed endless. There's a small cart suddenly there, big and a little rusted, and in it . . .

Copper ore. Mounds of it, green and red, stacked in a haphazard pile. Dust is settled on it, suggesting it's been here for some time, along with a broken lantern, a pickaxe, and one single, darkly stained glove.

How odd.

They don't have long to speculate, though, because guess who's back. It's Molly they go for this time, and it's more than just hands: something wraps tightly around the length of his body, binding his legs, his arms to his side-- and then the sensation of something rooting an groping around his face, over his chin, up and up and then there, and two tendrils slip where they shouldn't, slipping into his eye sockets, severing, pulling--

But then again, how bad is blindness when one's in a dark tunnel, right?

Wider is better. Molly's having a moment that's covering up with the best that bullshit can offer. Being underground, the walls closing in... It's a little too much like a grave. Like waking up to dirt in your face, slowly suffocating as you fight with every bit of strength in you to get out.

...He's honestly pretty consumed by that thought, so much that he barely registers the scene laid out before them. Maybe that's what makes him a target- that he hangs back a bit to collect himself and shoo the errant panic away.

But it doesn't go away- it's just replaced by new panic as he suddenly feels something wrapping around him like the coils of a snake. He struggles, trying to get to his blades, but his arms are pinned and all he can do is kick and flail and try to bite at nothing, only to stop when he feels that.

What no one wanted to see- that Molly's solid red eyes are red from front to back like two bloody orbs attached to clusters of nerves. Molly's lucky in that he doesn't have to see it at all, but he can hear his own anguished painful scream echoing down the chamber.

EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

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I've been doing 1st this entire time I'm so sorry.

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